Long arm of law reaches Paris

Celebrity heiress Paris Hilton (pictured) has signed up to drive a $350,000 Spyker supercar in a celebrity road race, exactly a week after she is due to face court for violating her probation in a reckless driving case.

Long arm of law reaches Paris

The organisers of Bullrun 2007 have announced Hilton will drive a new, 300kW Spyker C8 Spyder in the invitation-only race from Montreal, Canada, to Key West, Florida, starting on May 11.

But Hilton has been ordered to appear in a Los Angeles court today (US time) after she was allegedly caught speeding along Sunset Boulevard with the headlights of her Bentley Continental turned off in February. She was disqualified from driving at the time.

The offence violated the terms of a 36-month probation order, issued after the heiress pleaded no contest to an alcohol-related reckless driving charge in January.

US reports say prosecutors are applying to revoke Hilton's probation period, which could see her spend up to 90 days in jail.

But the cloud over her driving future hasn't deterred organisers of the Bullrun, who paraded Hilton to the media at a pre-publicity event.

Hilton posed in the driver's seat of the Spyker before being taken for a drive around the block for the benefit of the assembled paparazzi.

The Bullrun website describes the event as a "legendary annual cross country live car rally over a week involving 100 cars, celebrities and a party in every city every night".

It says "the only obligatory goals are to party, drive and enjoy".

The run is televised on Spike TV and broadcast to 52 countries outside the US